Imaginary Landscapes: A work in Progress | Katy Bentham | 36 Gallery

Imaginary Landscapes: A Work in Progress showcases Katy Bentham’s ongoing work around the town of Dumbarton, Scotland – the original birthplace of artist and musician David Byrne. Though his family emigrated to North America in 1954 when Byrne was no more than two years old, the town of Dumbarton and surrounding region speak to a certain ‘Talking Headsian’ curiosity for the structural environment and connectivity of all things: retail parks with plenty of parking set against breath-taking views of the highlands, a shopping centre on the banks of Loch Lomond and the performance of Scottish culture for a tourist industry in part serving a North American idea of Scotland. In all of this, the figure of David Byrne becomes a vehicle through which to investigate a wealth of ideas: history, migration, identity, architecture and the cultural fascination for ‘Mother Europe’ versus ‘The New World’.

For this exhibition at 36 Gallery, Bentham will showcase videos from a recent trip to Dumbarton as part of her development towards making a new moving image work.